Tag Archives: Team GB

Team GB starlet Jessica Ennis admits ‘I’d love to start my own fashion label

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Jessica Ennis has had quite a year, winning gold at the Olympics and becoming an idol for young girls everywhere. Now Jessica is branching out.

Speaking exclusively in City’s AM luxury magazine Bespoke, Olympic starlet Jessica Ennis said:

“I ADORE Victoria Beckham and Alexander McQueen…”

“I’d love to start my own fashion label…”

“I’ve been to two award ceremonies in the last two nights…”

You could be forgiven for thinking these were the words of a Hollywood starlet or seasoned pop star. But this is Jessica Ennis – the poster girl for the 2012 Olympics and contender for BBC Sports Personality of the Year, who, in the mind of the nation, wears lycra as a second skin.

Almost overnight she has become a focal point for the post-Olympics revival of Cool Britannia, as likely to be spotted in Stella McCartney as the new Adidas collection (which she is modelling the day City’s AM luxury magazine Bespoke caught up with her).

The change must be startling: one moment she’s a promising heptathlete, relatively unknown outside a group of loyal fans committed to the sport, the next, she’s an unexpected fashion darling.

So how is she enjoying the transition from tracksuits – and looking very good in them, mind you – to being dressed by some of the most sought after labels in the world? “It’s a brilliant position to be in,” she says. “It’s nice to have the option to pick and choose – it’s less stressful when you’re deciding what to wear.”

Her reinvention as a poster-girl has also given her design ambitions of her own and she confides that a collection is definitely on the horizon. “I would love to go down that road,” she says, “whether it’s collaborating with [a big sportswear brand] or doing the more fashiony side of things.”

With the amount of work coming her way, plus the prospects of further gold on the horizon, don’t expect Jessica Ennis, national treasure, unlikely fashion queen, to take her foot off the pedal for long.

Olympic revelry makes the Capital 2.7m stone heavier

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The average Londoner gained a staggering 4.5lbs in the two weeks of the Olympics, as the capital shunned exercise regimes and instead indulged in the fun of the Olympics with extra snacks and booze.

LighterLife, the innovative weight management company, surveyed 1,032 Londoners on Friday (10.08.12) to see how their eating habits and weight had changed during the period, as we celebrated watching triumphant Team GB going for Gold!

The survey highlighted that people consumed nearly 700 calories more each day, as they treated themselves to a few glasses of wine and extra snacks on top of their regular meals, resulting in an average weight gain of 4.5lbs.

This equated to 12,000 extra calories being consumed by the average Londoner during the Olympics – that’s more than 960m calories over the two-week period!

The main reason for the over-indulgence and weight gain however was down to people seeing the Olympics as a time to celebrate and indulge in snacks in front of the telly, as they watched The Games with friends and family.

Mandy Cassidy, Director of Psychology at LighterLife comments: “The Olympics are a fantastic sporting occasion for Great Britain and we typically justify over-eating and associate over indulgence with celebratory occasions. Mindless eating occurs often in front of the TV and emotional eating is a well know reason for over eating when not hungry. Let’s hope Londoners are inspired by the sporting triumphs and introduce a regular exercise regime into their day!”

Inspired by the Olympics? Wish you could take part?

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Michelle Sinclair’s novel Olympicked! imagines just that – a Games where all the competitors are chosen by random selection and given just four years to train in their allocated sport.

Michelle, who lived in London until earlier this year, got the idea from a chance remark made by her husband. “He joked that the Olympics would be much more entertaining if it was ordinary people competing instead of highly trained athletes. It was just a passing comment, but the thought stuck in my mind and the more I thought about it, the more I realised it wasn’t such a crazy idea. People could achieve quite a lot with four years to train, and it wouldn’t quite be the comedy or disaster that you might first imagine.

“In fact, Olympic athlete Helen Glover has vividly demonstrated that it isn’t a completely crazy idea – she only started rowing four years ago, and won Gold at London 2012!”

But Michelle also realised that having to undertake such intense training would be bound to impact on the lives of those chosen, and that became the focus of the novel, which follows eight of those chosen to compete for Great Britain at the 2020 Games.

Gary is a jobless teenager being edged towards a life of crime on a run-down housing estate; can his salvation take the form of a horse? Betty is a campaigning pensioner living life to the full and determined to fly the flag not just for her country but for older people everywhere. Susan is desperate to have a baby and is worried that the Olympic dream will interfere with her own personal goal. And Carl simply wants to impress his young daughter.

Together with an alcoholic civil servant, a party-loving gay man, a bored housewife and an out-of-work actress, their stories are told. Follow them as they learn of their selection and begin their training, facing obstacles along the way. Will they make it to the Olympic Park, and can any of them achieve that elusive Gold medal?

David Beckham Gets His Hand on Gold

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In between sightings at the Olympic games, David Beckham has been back in LA playing for the Galaxy in a series of exhibition matches, including Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur.

Whilst in LA, David got his hands on a different sort of gold when he met mixed martial arts champion Junior Dos Santos from Brazil. Dos Santos competes for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which is shown across the world in over 150 countries and is incredibly popular with a variety of sportsmen. The England rugby team said they often watched the UFC during the most recent World Cup in New Zealand and incorporate mixed martial arts into their training.

The UFC have been hosting events in the UK for the past ten years, selling out arenas from the O2 and MEN, and the Royal Albert Hall. The UFC will be hosting their one-and-only UK event this year on 29th September at the Capital FM Arena in Nottingham. Tickets are available from www.UFC.com.

Adams and Taylor Win Historic Golds in Women’s Boxing

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Great Britain’s Nicola Adams made history as she became the first ever women to win an Olympic gold boxing medal. Adams boxed superbly throughout the tournament. She defeated Indian legend and five time world champion Mary Kom in the semi finals.

Adams then crushed her Chinese opponent Ren Cancan in the final bout.  This despite Cancan having beaten Adams twice in previous contests. At one point Adams floored her opponent with a brilliant right hook and she went on to win comfortably by 16 points to 7.

The boxer from Leeds who’s idol is Muhammad Ali was ecstatic at the win and took team GBs to 24 gold medals.

Minutes later Katie Taylor followed Adams and became the second women to win a gold in boxing as she won a closely fought contest beating Sofya Ochigava 10 points to 8. Taylor had been behind by a point after the second round but battled back bravely and dominated thereafter. Taylor, a four time world champion, was carrying the hopes and dreams of Ireland who had yet to win a gold medal until the fight. Taylor had been the flag bearer for Ireland at the opening ceremony and the excel arena was packed with Irish fans.

Taylor delivered and sank to her knees in joy as the final result was read out.

Victoria Pendleton Lights Up

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Victoria Pendleton is set to light up the velodrome tonight in the women’s sprint final; if she brings home another gold for GB, the EDF Energy London Eye will shine gold in the evening

In anticipation of Team GB Golden Girl Victoria Pendleton’s quest for Gold this evening EDF Energy is celebrating her achievements so far in the Games. Attached is a creative shot of Victoria who is using bike lights to shine Team GB colours in a show of determination.

This shot is part of EDF Energy’s Energy of the Nation campaign, encouraging everyone to get behind the Games by tweeting their 2012 support. Energy of the Nation is measuring all Olympic-themed tweets and transforming this data into a spectacular lightshow on the EDF Energy London Eye every night throughout the Olympics at 9 and 10pm.

Andy Murray Wins Gold In 2012 Olympics.

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Andy Murray met his old nemesis Roger Federer on the Wimbledon court again, and took the gold home. Murray won two Olympic medals today at Wimbledon’s Centre Court.

The Scot beat the Swiss tennis champion on the same court were he was defeated at Wimbledon. Afterward he joined his mixed doubles partner Laura Robson where they lost in the deciding tie-break.

The audience chanted “Team GB, Team GB, Team GB” as Murray took gold. He won gold in less than two hours and then went into the player’s box to hug his girlfriend Kim Sears and his mother Judy.

Murray said: “It’s number one for me – the biggest win of my life.”

Brit Ben Ainslie also won a gold for Team GB after becoming the most successful sailor in Olympic history

Britain is not in third position on the medal table with 37 in total – 16 golds, 11 silver and 10 bronze. Go Team GB!

Jessica Ennis | People

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Jessica Ennis is 9 stone of steely determination and today she has made Britain incredibly proud. The 26-year-old broke the British record in the 100m hurdles and won heptathlon gold for Team GB.

Down-to-earth and wonderfully normal for someone so gifted, Jessica has a fiance, Andy, who works in construction. She has been with Andy for seven years and he is three years older than her. They met in a night out in Sheffield even though they went to the same school.

She’s outspoken “When things don’t go well, I’m always really irrational and thinking, ‘Oh, my world is crumbling around me.'” and honest, saying before a game: “I get really anxious”.

Her ambition is obvious “The silver is a position I just don’t want to be in again. I’ve tasted that and I don’t like it.”

She missed out on the 2008 Olympics because of a stress fracture in her foot. Before the Olympics 2012 Marie Claire magazine asked her how it would feel if she didn’t get it, she said: “I don’t like to think about the negative or the possibility of things going wrong, because that’s just a really bad way of viewing it. It gets in your head.”

Jessica says she visualises every event going well, but not winning as there is “so much to come before that, and so much that can go wrong”.

She trains at the Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport and is the face of Olay Essentials range. She come across as a girl’s girl and says “I don’t even walk the dog without make-up. I’ve always been like that”.

Her beauty icon is Jennifer Aniston and she loves Bobbi Brown make-up. Her beauty routine is low-key, “I train twice a day so I’m always sweating, which is actually quite good for your skin. But I always wash, cleanse and moisturise so my pores won’t clog.”

Some idiot may have called her fat, but the world was outraged and she brushed it off. Jessica has a lot of pressure on those toned shoulders of hers, but she is handling it all with grace and beauty.